Game of Thrones: Jon Snow Spin-Off Not Planned

by Cindy McLennan, May 23, 2016

Game of Thrones TV series on HBO. Pictured: Kit Harrington as Jon Snow. Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO.

Cancel your plans to tune in for a Jon Snow spin-off of HBO‘s popular Game of Thrones TV show. Despite rumors to the contrary that were swirling about, this weekend, Entertainment Weekly reports Kit Harrington has not been approached about starring in a sequel series.

The speculation had been that a Jon Snow-centric series would kick off, after Game of Thrones ends it run on HBO. The fantasy drama series has already been renewed for a seventh season. Producers have said they’re working toward the end of the show.

Here is more, from EW:

HBO been pretty adamant that there’s no current Thrones spin-off or prequel plan. But that could eventually change with the just-announced departure of top programming executive Michael Lombardo, who told EW a firm “no” when asked about a spin-off last month. “If that were to happen it would have to come from [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] really feeling something, or [author George R.R. Martin] really feeling that it was the right thing to do,” he said. “Not knowing how this particular story ends, I don’t know. There are plenty of characters, secondary characters, [who] you could build a world around. We’re always going to be drawn to a strong creative vision. But we are not going to do that unless we feel their passion.”

Thrones showrunners recently agreed with HBO. “No, we don’t talk about that stuff,” Dan Weiss said. “The job at hand is too enormous and challenging to be further diffusing ourselves by thinking about spin-offs, and theme park rides, and ice ballets … but if anybody has a good pitch for a good Game of Thrones ice ballet, let us know.”

On the heels of that, Martin told EW he was open to the right spin-off idea. “There is certainly no lack of material,” Martin said. “Every episode of The Naked City – one of the television shows I watched as a kid – ended with a voice-over: ‘There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.’ There are eight million stories in Westeros as well … and even more in Essos and the lands beyond. A whole world full of stories, waiting to be told… if indeed HBO is interested.”

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In any case, the clock is beginning to tick if HBO wants to keep new Westeros tales on the air each year. Thrones producers have proposed wrapping the current series at 73 hours, with a final 13 episodes split between seasons 7 and 8 (the UK stories also claimed the series would wrap with season 7, which is not true either). It’s not yet clear if HBO will agree to the end-date plan.

What do you think? Would you watch a Game of Thrones spin-off featuring Jon Snow? Let us know, below.